- Human RightsTorture
- January 20, 2010
- 6 minutes read
Egypt: Family tortured by Police in Omraneya.
On 27 December 2009, forces of the SSI from Omraneya Police Station arrested 50-year-old Akram Saeed Jarada, and his 36-year-old wife Sahar Mohamed Mansour.
The Palestinian citizen who lived in Egypt for nearly 40 years was arrested after the SSI raided his factory in the Maryotteya district.
State security forces broke into the factory and arrested Sahar accusing her of the illegal use of electricity. Jarada asked the officer, Mohamed El-Ashry who works at the Maryotteya police station, to show him his identity and the arrest warrant but he was ignored.
Jarada refused to let the officer arrest his wife and they were later dragged to the factory and brutally beaten with iron rods. The victims were kicked in the head, stomach and faces which resulted in many injuries and broken bones. El-Ashry ordered his accomplices to transfer them to the police station where they continued their inhumane beatings. Detectives also joined the gang kicking the victims and humiliating them. Their young child witnessed the brutality crying profusely.
Jarada was hit in the face with the officer’s shoe in an attempt to humiliate him further.
A Police Commissioner named Arafah Abdel Ghaffar later dragged them on the floor of the police station.
Once Akram was released, he contacted his lawyer where they immediately submitted a complaint in which they accused Mohamed El-Ashry and Arafah Abdel Ghaffar of beating and torturing them in the Omraneya Police Station in addition to their illegal 4-day detention ordered by the Omraneya Chief Detective Medhat Fares.
Immediate investigation went under way.
The case of Mr. Jarada and his family is blatant evidence on the brutality, torture and abuse in which some police treat citizens demonstrating the lack of respect to the law and Constitution, which stipulates that citizens have the basic right to live with dignity.
The question raised, is who is to protect citizens from police if they have withdrawn from and shirked their responsibility ignoring their oath "to protect and serve".